Events continue to unfold at a quickening pace. Facing an alarming escalation intensions around the world, we asked Cynthia McKinney for her current thoughts.
The interview was arranged by John Rachel, Director of the Peace Dividend Project.
Cynthia McKinney is an American politician and assistant professor at North South University, Bangladesh. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms in the United States House of Representatives, as the first African American woman ever elected to represent Georgia. She was also the first Member of Congress to demand an investigation of the events of 9/11 and the first to file articles of impeachment against George W. Bush. She voted against every war-funding bill put before her. In 2008, Cynthia McKinney won the Green Party nomination and ran for U.S. President.
We focus on the realities of the international power struggle unfolding in real time, specifically addressing the role of the U.S. in the tensions and its capacity to reduce them. We are looking for paradigm-shift ideas for improving the prospects for peace. Her responses below of are exactly as she provided.
Here is what Cynthia had to say.
Q. We hear a lot of terms and acronyms bandied about. ‘Deep State’ … ‘MIC’ …‘FIRE sector’ … ‘ruling elite’ … ‘oligarchy’ … ‘neocons’. Who actually defines and sets America’s geopolitical priorities and determines our foreign policy? Not“ officially”. Not constitutionally. But de facto.
A. As you have probably noticed, the signature of my e-mails has a quote from a U.K. television series: “You get to the top and you realize it’s only the middle. “Tom Dawkins, UK Prime Minister in the 2012 TV series, Secret State. I watched every minute of this TV series and when this was uttered by the actor portraying the U.K. Prime Minister, I knew this was what I would call “faction.” Because that is exactly the way I felt upon realizing that Members of Congress don’t call the shots; they are mere actors [with a whole lot of squandered power that could be used to actually HELP people—including their constituents and those harmed by U.S. foreign and military policies] who trick their constituents. They are also cowards, because they could say no to these people, but they don’t dare. They are also narcissists because they think they’re smarter than their constituents and in many cases, also the donors, too. I saw some of them playing games with the so-called report cards from lobbyists, scoring 50% on them all and then collecting money from both sides on every issue!! Some committees are known as “money committees” and those are highly sought after—not for their jurisdiction, but for their rewards in campaign contributions! Thus, from the very beginning, the purpose and process of U.S. policy-making has been corrupted. I had one famous Congresswoman tell me, “Cynthia, you just have to accept that when the [Democratic Party] Leadership tell us to do something, we’re going to do it! ”So, these narcissists who trade your hopes and dreams for favors from the rich and powerful accustomed to getting their way all the time, aren’t even leaders, either! They’re followers at best, cowards. Because, in the end, they don’t want to end up like me—out of the position that allows them adoration from the public and favored by the rich and powerful.
If that means “shaving around the edges” of your morals, values, and principles, so be it. The primordial objective, once you’re there, is to stay there until you die. Your life becomes one long LSD trip. [Mind you, I’ve never been on an LSD trip, but I understand that people find it enjoyable, exceptionally revealing, and way more interesting than than, by-comparison, the mundane world.] I had people calling me, visiting me, offering me fame and longevity in Congress. All I had to do was become“ theirs.” One rabbi told me that he would “broker” me to the Jewish community if I were to agree to “come under my stable.” By now, everyone who knows me knows about the oath to Israel that I was basically forced to sign—I refused. The others who manage to stay in U.S. elected offices have signed a loyalty oath in one form or another to a foreign country. I don’t know of anything more heinous—other than that those who demand fealty to another country operate in our country with impunity. They have been caught by FBI translators trading U.S. national security secrets to other countries with impunity. Instead, the FBI translator who heard these conversations was, herself, punished and silenced! Not the traitors!
One clear reading of the COINTELPRO papers and the Frank Church Committee Reports makes it clear that evil [I know of no other way to describe them] people are giving the orders and another set of evil operatives who wield official power are implementing those orders. The political institutions of the U.S. are spent. They and the people who occupy them need to be razed and we should start all over again—with only the Bill of Rights as our guide. I am not afraid to envision another political system for the U.S. I think global kakistocracy and psychopathocracy are the clear results of indirect democracy—what a Republic is. And if a Republic is INdirect democracy, I believe it’s time for us to try DIRECT democracy.
Q. We’ve had decades of international tensions. Recent developments have seen a sharp escalation in the potential for a major war. The U.S. apparently cannot beat peace. “Threats” against the homeland are allegedly increasing in number and severity. The trajectory of our relations with the rest of the world appears to be more confrontations, more enemies, more crises, more wars. Is the world really that full of aggressors, bad actors, ruthless opponents? Or is there something in our own policies and attitudes toward other countries which put us at odds with them, thus making war inevitable and peace impossible?
A. Correction. We’ve had decades of Western aggression against the non-Western world. Parts of Europe are also decidedly NOT Western. Therefore, to include all of Europe in the sins and transgressions and aggressions of “The West” is incorrect. We are seeing that idea now being concretized in international relations. In fact, I traveled to Russia a few years ago at the invitation of some of the young people there. I met with a wide swath of the Moscow organized and politically active youth and I had only one question for them as they had many for me. My one question was, “How do you view yourself; are you Western European or are you Russian?” Understanding the centuries-old desire of Russian leaders to emulate the Paris or Vienna of their day, I wanted to understand the identity of the young adults I was meeting. To a person, they told me that they are Russians; they have no desire to be like The West. This represents a paradigm shift from historic Russia. Because of the political system currently favored by the global “Deep State,” the people really are not the ones who are controlling policy outcomes. [They never have.—Ed] We the People of the U.S. are allowing the bad guys to rule with impunity. We the People of the U.S. need regime change in the image of the Bill of Rights; Putin’s most recent speech tagged Anglo-Saxons. Yes, Anglo Saxons have, indeed, committed their fair share of atrocities on the planet and the people of this world. However, a small but well-connected cabal of Zionists is responsible for orchestrating and organizing and justifying the world’s wars since September 11, 2001. I’ve started a list of perpetrators. It’s larger than one would imagine. Because those who say “Yes” outnumber those who stand up to them and say, “No.” The impunity of these bad actors needs to be ended. The next phase of our activities should involve building the alternative societies that we envision; correcting all of the lies that have been told to us, like, for example, the 100% anthropogenic explanation for “global warming” climate change. But, that is not enough. We must also deny official state power to those who now wield it. Full stop. Period. Everyone there now needs to go and the institutions need to be razed to make way for a new form of governance. That cannot happen with those committed to the corrupted institutions of today, nor can it happen as long as those who have no other vision for governance are able to wield state power over us.
A group recently came out with a “revolutionary” recommendation to eliminate single-member districts for Congress. It turns out that their idea really wasn’t so revolutionary after all because I introduced the Voters’ Choice Act almost 30 years ago that contained that same provision!
Q. Our leaders relentlessly talk about our “national interests” and our “national security”, warning that both are under constant assault. Yet, we spend more than the next nine countries combined on our military. Why does such colossal spending never seem to be enough?
A. The money is being stolen and even enough is never enough when free money is being helicoptered to one privileged group—and stolen from the unlucky other ones. What’s amazing is that the unlucky other ones demurely allow this to happen almost without even a shrug of their shoulders.
Q. It’s evident that you, and the many individuals who follow you and support your work, believe that America’s direction in both the diplomatic sphere and in the current conflict zones represents exercise of government power gone awry. Can you paint for us in broad strokes the specific changes in our national priorities and policies you view as necessary for the U.S. to peacefully coexist with other nations, at the same time keeping us safe from malicious attacks on our security and rightful place in the world community?
A. Putin spoke of the Anglo Saxons. That’s poignant and purposeful. There are people who realize that the U.S. has veered off track. But, they think they can “take our country back” without forming a coalition with other newer and older “Americans.” As long as the rallies of today’s “patriots” look like Ku Klux Klan meetings, these rally-ers will lose. Maybe the idea of forming a coalition that is truly inclusive with people from different races and differing religions, and even with no religion—is the central Anglo-Saxon problem. For, people who share skin colors don’t necessarily share visions, objectives, purposes. But, these rallies give the impression that they do. The U.S. is in this predicament precisely because the Anglo-Saxons in charge at one time found false friendship with people of the same skin color, but whose values and vision were frighteningly different; yet, at the same time, these same Anglo-Saxons in charge of the U.S. state viewed the Black and Brown people in their midst as alien and foreign and undesirable. After speaking at one of the earlier “unacceptable,” “take our country back” peace rallies, I chanced upon a reporter who was covering the anti-Iraq War rally. I asked him how did you “lose” your country without a shot being fired? His response was honest and revealing: “They [meaning their enemy] were White like us.”
Q. The general public, especially when it’s aware of the self-sabotaging results of our current foreign policies and military posturing, clearly wants less war and militarism, preferring more peaceful alternatives on the world stage and greater concentration on solving the problems at home. As peace activists, we are thus more in line with the majority of citizens on issues of war and peace, than those currently in power. What happens if we determine that those shaping current U.S. policy don’t care what the citizenry thinks, are simply not listening to us? What if we conclude that our Congress, for example, is completely deaf to the voice of the people? What do we do? What are our options then? What are the next concrete steps for political activists working toward a peaceful future?
A. We invite Louis Farrakhan to have another Million Man March in Washington, D.C. And then, we invite the public to occupy the White House, Capitol, Supreme Court, and Federal Buildings. Because, when Farrakhan came to Washington, there was a voluntary evacuation of Washington, D.C. like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Then, we occupy and we don’t leave. • • •
Cynthia McKinney is an American politician and assistant professor at North South University, Bangladesh. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms in the United States House of Representatives, as the first African American woman ever elected to represent Georgia. She was also the first Member of Congress to demand an investigation of the events of 9/11 and the first to file articles of impeachment against George W. Bush. She voted against every war-funding bill put before her. In 2008, Cynthia McKinney won the Green Party nomination and ran for U.S. President.